


Kuzunoha Raidou: Century 21: Pilot Episode

by Idamdra



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Mild Blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-31 00:51:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8556151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idamdra/pseuds/Idamdra
Summary: Heisei 20, Tokyo: Narumi’s only employee, Raidou Kuzunoha, had not returned for the evening, until three hours after closing. Once the young Devil Summoner managed to mosey himself back to the Detective Agency, he and his partner were worse for wear. [Modern/Future AU]





	

**Author's Note:**

> written for days six and seven (Nov. 13 & 14th) of [DSRK Week](http://dsrkweek.tumblr.com) 2016\. Prompts: Alternate Universe; ‘Future.’

_Heisei 20, Tokyo_

_Westernization has given rise to a new Japan intertwined with a global scale. Business has risen and fallen in the past few decades, leading the people to worry and despair. Technology has intertwined itself within daily life as much as the rest of the world. The country has evolved, and so has its people. But, even things of the old ways need attending to._

 

* * *

 

There should not have been anyone at the Narumi Detective Agency. It was long after hours, but the owner thought it better to stay behind. Narumi did not expect Raidou to stay out this long on the current case. A half hour late would have been nothing, an hour late would have been excusable, but when the duration hit three hours, Narumi started to worry. Narumi knew Raidou was an unusual kid, it came with the job—dealing with the supernatural happenings of Tokyo was what they dealt with daily—but if Narumi knew Raidou to be anything, it was being prompt.

             Narumi wondered if that was what has been holding him back: Raidou getting into a scuffle with some spook he could not handle. That situation would not have been good for business, and it would have been worse on Narumi. Raidou was a Devil Summoner after all, the best of the Kuzunoha lot. They both knew danger came with the title, but perhaps Narumi was over estimating Raidou’s capabilities. He was still pretty green, not just to the job, but as a man as well.

             Despite the hour, the streets of Shinjuku were blaring with car horns and busybodies outside the office’s windows. Narumi was thankful for it. The agency would have been all too quiet without it; spare the noise of a pop-up ad and a video playing from the laptop Narumi was distracting himself with. The ad had become white noise. He tried searching for the tab it originated from some time ago, but he had too many tabs open and not enough ambition.

             All the excess noise rendered Narumi unable to hear the paced footsteps down the hall, and the video on cats was rather entertaining; maybe he would understand Raidou’s feline companion a little bit better after watching it. Probably not, he figured, but watched anyway.

             “Have we reached somewhere safe?”

             It was a familiar voice. He glanced up from behind the computer screen, and almost had a heart attack.

             Two young men, around twenty-one, were bracing themselves against each other, one more so than the other, both beaten up in a multitude of places. The two inhumanly resembled each other, absolute mirrors except for a pair of scars on the other’s face. The scars were the only things Narumi was able to tell which one was Raidou, as opposed to the body double—on an average day.

             Anyone would have figured something was off with the current state the two were in. RAIDO’s wounds did not bleed like Raidou’s did, despite having far more of them in far worse condition. Instead, there was a subtle sheen from exposed metal covered with nicks and dents; his skin torn away like old wallpaper. It was the blood from Raidou’s side that marked him red, although the majority of it was masked by their black wear.

             “Yes, RAIDO. We’re safe.” Raidou replied, shuffling into the office.

             Then, RAIDO ceased. Every portion of his eyes went black, and he went rigid and still. He slipped free from Raidou and started to topple over, but Narumi stepped in with a “Hold on there,” catching him halfway down. Narumi thought it embarrassing that he buckled under the weight of the machinery, yet Raidou was still able to support and guide RAIDO. 

             “I’ll take him to Victor tomorrow… He’s a bit more techno-savvy than I am. Did a good job on that gun-COMP of yours when it got smashed that one time. Bet he’ll be able to patch him up fighting fit,” Narumi said while both of them lied RAIDO down on the couch meant for clients but used more for late nights at the office.

             “You know, you should be more careful, Raidou” he continued, “He’s made from your magnetite after all… Surely there has to be draw backs from over working him.”

             Narumi and Raidou did not think it accurate in calling RAIDO an automated double. His composition was mechanical, but magnetite was a consciousness, a person’s mental and spiritual footprint—the likeliness of its origin while being a separate identity. RAIDO was Raidou, but not Raidou; Narumi did not quite grasp all its complexity, so “machine” was his layman’s explanation. 

             “The Herald has told me the intent and limitations of the Reactive AI Doppelgänger,” Raidou said. Both of them looked at the scars on RAIDO’s face for more than a few seconds, and Narumi closed the vacant eyes in efforts to ease its unsettling appearance. Raidou finished: “I keep them in mind.”

             Narumi sighed: “Well, the important thing is you’re back in one piece—more or less.” 

             He never asked why RAIDO had the scars while the reminiscent of the same wounds could only be seen on Raidou when looking for them up close and personal, but it was something he thought of enough to notice. It made more sense to him for it to be the other way around. Maybe it was something Raidou could open up to over a meal, Narumi figured, it was late after all, and a new restaurant opened nearby. It was a fitting instance to start a new tab.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Author Commentary:** I did that thing you’re not supposed to do—leaving things vague—but it happens. I also know 2009 isn't exactly 'Future,' but it is for Raidou. And in reality the acronym would be "RIAIDO," because: katakana. I blatantly disregarded that.


End file.
